PAMPANGA BEAUTY PAGEANT BET, ISRAELI BF EACH SHOT TWICE — NBI

BEAUTY pageant contestant Geneva Lopez and her Israeli boyfriend Yitshak Cohen were shot twice that caused their death, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said

According to NBI Director Jaime Santiago, an autopsy done on the bodies of the 27-year-old Lopez and the 37-year-old Cohen showed that each of them was shot twice.

Santiago said Lopez had gunshot wounds at the back of her torso and thigh while Cohen was shot in the chest and near the armpit.

Members of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the PNP Forensic Group who exhumed the decomposing bodies of the two victims have collected some pieces of evidence, including a slug, which will be subjected to a cross-matching examination.

Lopez and Cohen were found buried in a quarry site in Bgy. Sta. Lucia in Capas, Tarlac on Saturday morning.

Relatives identified the victims through marks on their bodies and the clothes they were wearing when they were last seen.

A number of possible motives behind the gruesome crime, including a possible land conflict, are being looked into by the SITG Geneshak.

A brother of Cohen, however, said that the couple had already purchased the property several years ago and were about to get the land title when they disappeared.

Two former members of the Angeles City Police Station were among the persons of interest in the case.

The two and the alleged driver, who pinpointed to the police the burial site after he was allegedly bothered by his conscience, are now in the custody of the police.

Lopez and Cohen went missing last June 21 after they left their house in Angeles City for Capas, Tarlac to meet with a middleman, a former policeman, about the 20.5 hectares of farmland they were buying.

The gray Nissan Terra the couple were using was found burned on Cojuangco highway in Bgy. Cristo Rey in Capas, Tarlac.